Hoe.



A. C. BRUCE.

HOE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.25, 1913.

Patented July 27, 1915.

." BB s'rA'rEs PATENT orrro.

AVERY C. BRUCE, or BIRMINGMAM; AL BA Assieno To SENN BREssB STEEL HOE AN TooL COMPANY, or IBIRMiNGHAM, ALABAMA, A CORPORATION or ALA- BAMA.

To all whom it may Concern:

Be it known that I, AVERY G. BRuCE, a citij zen of the United States of America, residing at Birminghaimin the county of Jefferson. and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hoes, of which the following is a specification. 7

.My invention relates to hoes and like implementsand has for its object to improve and perfectth'e'socket portion thereof and to simplify the manner of fastening the bandie in the socket.

shank.

end by a readily detachable clamp ring.

A further object of my invention is to improve the'm'anner of formingsockets' for hoes constructed in accordance with United States Letters Patent toEdward-Senn No.

922,202, wherein the socket is formed by twisting and bending a socket portion which is integral with the blade and Connected thereto by a neck. According to my invention, the socket portion is formed with tapering outer ends which are shaped and twisted to form a split tapering socket.

y providing a notch atthe center of the socket portion which'forms the heel of the'finished socket, Ifind that, when the socket portion is being twisted and bent,I obtain a more A perfect closing up of the joint at the top of the heel between the socket 'sections, and get amoreroun'ded andsa-tisfa'ctory shape for theh'eel portion. 1 I have illustrated my invention, in its preferred embodiments only, in the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and in which 1 Figure Lis a plan view of the hoe .blank.

' Figs. 2 and e SllOW two steps' in the shaping of the blank to form the socket. Fig. 1' is p Specification of Letters Patent. Pat t d July 27, 1915 Application filed August 25, 19 13. Serial a... 786,557.

a detail perspective view of the finished hoe shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the completehoe showing the manner of fastening the handle in the socket. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are views corresponding to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of a double ended hoe.

Similar. reference numerals refer to simi-v lar parts throughout the drawings.

As illustrated, the hoe blank isstamped i or cut from sheet steel or any suitable metal and comprises the blade portion 1, theneck portion2, and the socket portion .3. The portions 1 and 3 are separated bynotches 1,

which are separated by the neck portion,

and the v peculiar shape of these notches forms no partof my present invention. It Wlll be noted that the endsor wings 5 of the socket portion 3 are made tapering from the center toward their ends and that a scroll shaped notch 6 is out at the center of the top edge of the portion 3 opposite to the neck 2. After the blank has been thus formed, the wings 5 are bent to the position shown; in Fig. 2 and a reinforcingrib or corrugation ,7 is formed in and' extends across the portions 1, 2 and -I make no claim to the manner offorming this reinforcement 7 as the same forms no part of my present invention. The socket portion and its wings are then shaped 111 a die to form the split socket. 8, as seen in Fig. 3, the notch 6 permitting the metal, in the center of the portion 3, as it is bent over in the dies to form the heel portion 9 ofjth'e socket, to give a close top joint formed by bringing the edges of the notch together. Alsoby cutting notch at what would be the upper end of a right angled fold-in the blank, lavoid shaped" end 10. of a hoe handle 11, this end A being inserted inthesocket and then the split sections of the latter are forced.'to gether and. clamped in thatposition about the wedge by a ring 12. This ring, by gripping the ends of the socket members tothe latter to pull out or come loose.

5 same time, the ring can be readily disengagedand the hoe detached from the handle when desired.

In Figs. 6 to 8 the blank is formed with hoe blades 13 and 14 on each end connected by neck portions 2 with an intermediate socket portion 15 which is provided with tapering wings 16 having converging upper and lower edges. These wings, as seen in Fig. 7, are bent into parallelism in planes at right angles to the blades and then shaped by dies to form a split tapering socket 17 adapted to receive the wedge end of a handle and be fastened thereon by the ring 12 in the manner shown in Fig. 5.

The exact shape of the notch 6 may be modified in various ways, provided sufli cient metal is cut away at the center of the top edge of the socket portion so as to provide a smooth rounded heel portion for the socket with a tightly closed joint where the socket portions diverge from the heel portion 9.

As I have heretofore stated, I make no claim in this application to the manner of reinforcing the neck of the hoe by means of the rib 7 nor do I claim the improved construction of the slots 1 which differ from the construction in the Senn patent referred to, which features form the subject matter of an application filed of even date herewith by the said Edward Senn.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure-by Letters Patent, is

1. As an article ofmanufacture, a hoe comprising a blade and socket portion, the latter being formed by one or more concavoconvex portions which taper toward the open outer end of the socket and which when contracted form a substantially circular socket which is smallest at its open end, and a reinforced inner end for the socket forming an end bearing for the.

handle.

2. An an article of manufacture, a hoe comprising a blade and tubular split socket portion, the socket being adapted, when contracted, to become smaller toward its open end, a handle having an enlarged wedge shaped end adapted to fit into said split socket and against the inner end of the socket, and a clamp ring. adapted to be forced on the split end of the socket to contract it about the smaller end of said wedge end of the handle and interlock it and said socket, substantially as described.

'3. In a-hoe or like tool, an integral blade and socket, the socket being formed by oppositely facing wings which are bent toward each other in the same plane, and

wedged end of the handle to wedge lock the handle in the socket, substantially as de scribed;

4. In a hoe, a blade, tapering portions integral with the blade and which are bent toward each other and at an angle to the blade and are rounded in cross section to form between them a substantially circular split socket the concave members of which taper toward its open end, a handle having an enlarged wedge end adapted to be inserted in the open end of said socket and to bear against the inner end of the socket, and means to fasten the handle in the socket consisting solely of a clamp ring which is forced over the end of the socket after the handle has been inserted therein to contract the end of the socket'sufiiciently to positively prevent the withdrawal therefrom of said handle. 1

5. A hoe comprising a blade and an integral socket portion, the socket portion being formed'by wings which are concavoconvex in cross section and which taper longitudinally toward the open end of the socket, said blades when contracted being adapted to abut along their longitudinal edges to form a closed socket in the shape of a truncated cone smallest at its open end and closed at its inner end adjacent to the blade, substantially as described.

6. A hoe comprising integral blade and socket portions, the socket portion being split and shaped to taper toward its open end, when in contracted position about a handle, and form a tubular socket closed except at its open end, and means to retain a handle in said socket consisting of a clamp ring to hold the open end of the socket in contracted. position about a handle, substantially as described.

7. A hoe or like tool comprising a blade and an integral tubular split socket closed at its blade end and there'reinforced byan indented reinforcing rib, a handle having an enlarged wedge shaped end adapted to be inserted into said socketwhen in its expanded position and to bear against said rib, and a clamp ring tov contract the outer end of saidsocket about the smaller end of said wedge shaped end of the handle to wedge lock the parts. I

8. A'hoeor like tool formed from an integral blank having a blade portion, a neck anda socket portion, the socket portion being bent to form a tubular split socket about the smaller part of said enlarged hanclosed at its inner end and when contractdle end to Wedge lock it to the tool. 10

ed being reduced in diameter toward its. In testimony whereof I aflix my signaopen end a reinforced indented rib Which ture in presence of tWo Witnesses.

extends across the neck and to the axis of AVERY C. BRUCE. the socket, an enlarged handle end adapted Witnesses: I

to enter the socket and bear against said H. M. PITTS,

rib, and a clamp ring to contract the socket JOHN LEWIS.

Gopies of this patent may be ohtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner o fIatents,

Washington, D. C. r 

